The Words That Killed Me

Only a narrow stretch of the stone causeway connecting the lighthouse to shore remained above water.

Waves slammed against the car door with heavy thuds.

By the time I opened the door and stepped out, the seawater was already washing over my ankles.

The lighthouse's iron door stood slightly ajar.

The crystal heels Gemma Foster had worn that night lay abandoned by the entrance. One heel was broken, and a few drops of blood stained the ground beside them.

"Gemma?" I called her name.

Only the wind answered.

I followed the spiral staircase upward.

Her purse was on the second floor. The draft of her suicide note lay on the third floor. Her white shawl from that evening was draped over the railing at the very top.

Everything was there, except her.

I walked to the railing and looked down. The ocean was black, waves crashing against the rocks below.

If she'd really jumped from here, there was no way she could have survived.

Suddenly, a phone rang somewhere in the corner. I followed the sound and found a spare phone inside an abandoned wooden crate. The screen was still lit.

A message from Gemma remained open on the screen.

[I've put everything where you told me to, Nolan. When are you coming to get me?]

Nolan had replied: [Wait another ten minutes. Once you're sure she's here, leave through the rear maintenance passage.]

The message had been sent an hour ago.

I stared at those two lines for a long time.

So Gemma hadn't disappeared. They'd only wanted to lure me here.

I didn't know why Nolan had helped her, and I no longer wanted to go back and ask.

A sudden crash came from outside the lighthouse. A wave surged over the causeway and shoved the car I'd driven out of place.

Just then, the spare phone rang. It was my mother, Elaine Foster.

I answered, but before I could speak, she let out a long sigh of relief. "Gemma's home safe."

Then her voice turned cold. "She just wanted some time alone, but you deliberately took the family car and made such a scene that everyone found out. With all those guests there tonight, were you trying to embarrass her?"

I looked at the causeway, now completely submerged beneath the water. "No."

"You're still talking back?"

My father, Russell Foster, snatched the phone from her. "Gemma just calmed down. She can't handle any more stress. Stay out tonight and think about what you've done. Don't come back and upset her."

I answered seriously, "Okay."

Footsteps sounded on the other end. A moment later, Nolan's voice came close to the phone. "And don't call home again."

I made sure I'd understood him. "No matter what happens, I can't call?"

He gave a short, incredulous laugh, as if I'd exasperated him. "That's right. Even if you die out there, don't bother us."

The call ended.

Rain poured into the lighthouse. The only light on the top floor flickered several times, then went out completely.

I silenced the spare phone and put it back in the crate.

Downstairs, seawater reached the first step.

This time, I didn't think I'd misunderstood. They didn't want me to come home, and they didn't want me to ask for help.